One of
the great tragedies to befall Poland during the Second World War
was the systematic persecution and eventual extermination of
Polish Jews by the German Occupant. Terms such as 'crime against
humanity', 'genocide' and 'holocaust' only partly convey the
horror of these events.

Even
now, more than half a century after the end of the war,
questions are still being asked: What was the Polish Nation's
response to the unfolding Jewish Tragedy? Did the Poles try to
help the Jews? How much help could have been actually offered in
view of the rigours imposed by German Occupation? Such questions
call for a considered response based on historical facts.

Poland
was the only country in occupied Europe where throughout the
duration of the war a secret organisation existed whose express
purpose was to help the Jews and find, for at least some of
them, a place of safety. Initially coordinated by several
committees, this action culminated in the creation in December
1942 of the Relief Council for Jews in Poland, code name 'Zegota'.

'Zegota'
(l) organised financial aid and medical care for the Jews
in hiding on the 'Aryan side', and procured for them forged
identity documents. 'Zegota' was successful in providing
accommodation for many. This presented an extremely difficult
problem as discovery of a person of Jewish origin on the
premises resulted in an immediate execution of all the
occupants.

E. Ringelblum
(2) describes hundreds of such cases.

Some
2500 Jewish children from Warsaw were saved by 'Żegota' by
placing them either with catholic Polish foster-families or in
orphanages run by convents or local councils. Help in the form
of money, food and medicines was organised by 'Zegota' for the
Jews in several forced labour camps in Poland.

As
soon as the Jewish Tragedy became apparent, the Polish
Government-in-Exile, the Underground State and Polish diplomacy
embarked on a massive campaign, informing the free world of the
plight of the Jews. Efforts were made to obtain help for them
from the Allied Governments, the Vatican and from various
organisations in the Allied countries. There were countless
broadcasts, articles in the press, organised meetings,
approaches to Allied leaders and governments in which the Free
Polish leaders, ministers, politicians and diplomats over and
over again insisted a crime of genocide was being committed by
the Germans against the Jews. (3). The full story of the
Jewish Tragedy was brought to the Allied countries by special
couriers from the Polish Resistance, one of them gaining access
to the inside of the Warsaw Ghetto and of a death camp. The
couriers tried to persuade the Allies and the Jewish
organisations that there was a real danger and urgency to help
the Jews. Unfortunately the efforts of the Poles were in vain.
The Allies were too busy with the prosecution of the war to
consider the plight of the Jews. The Jewish organisations in the
free world could not bring themselves to believe the Polish
reports - they thought it was all an exaggeration.

The
military wing of the Polish Underground State, the Home Army,
tried to involve the Jewish organisations in Poland in
resistance activities. At first there was reluctance on their
part to participate. However, in 1942 the Jewish resistance
movement began. The Home Army helped by providing military
intelligence, communication with the Allies and eventually by
providing some weapons, explosives and military expertise for
the fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising (4).

It is
worth noting that Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes
Remembrance Authority, has recently expressed both thanks and
appreciation to the special unit of the 'Zoska' Battalion of the
Polish Home Army, which in August 1944 captured the Warsaw
Concentration Camp, the so called 'Gesiówka', liberating 348
prisoners, Polish and European Jews.

What
of the ordinary Polish people - were they prepared to offer help
to the Jews? At an early stage of Poland's occupation the Jews
were selected for special treatment by the Occupier. This meant
a gradual isolation, degradation, starvation and eventual denial
of the right to life for all Polish Jews.

The
harsh reality of life for the rest of Poland's population was
that everybody was preoccupied with the constant struggle for
survival. To find work, to obtain enough food and other
necessities of life, all these were of utmost importance to very
many. Furthermore there was the constant fear of being arrested
and sent to a concentration camp, to forced labour in Germany,
or to be taken as a hostage for public execution by a firing
squad or hanging.

Three
million Poles and three million Polish Jews perished as a result
of the German occupation. Poland was the only country in
occupied Europe where giving any kind of help to the Jews
resulted in summary execution of the helper and his or her
family. Under such circumstances it would require a person of a
special kind of courage and love of humanity to offer help to a
Jew. How many saints would one find in any community? And yet
there were some Polish people who did help. It has always been
difficult to establish the exact number of helpers. Some idea of
the number can be gleaned from the Yad Vashem list of the
'Righteous among the Nations' (l). The list, as of 1st January
1997, gives the names of 14,706 persons from 34 nationalities
who helped the Jews. 4,954 of them are Polish helpers. Among
them are listed 11 catholic clergymen and 18 nuns. Only three
organisations are honoured by Yad Vashem, one being, the Polish
organisation 'Żegota'. It is likely that as research into
the role of the Polish people in the Holocaust continues, the
list of Polish names will grow.

Those
listed are the helpers who survived and their heroism verified
by those whom they helped. There were many who paid the ultimate
price. In most cases those they were trying to help perished
with them. The publication 'Those who helped' (1) lists
704 Poles who were killed because they helped the Jews. Places
and dates are also given of mass executions by the Germans (the
so-called pacifications of villages) of a further 143 Poles who
rendered help to the Jews. To obtain and verify the names of
those helpers who perished presents an even more difficult
problem. Inevitably there will remain a large number of unknown
heroes.

One
can finally ask: - Was the help given to the Jews of some
significance? Stewart Steven, who in his book 'The Poles' (5),
gives an extensive account of Polish-Jewish relations, offers
the following conclusion: 'Maybe Poland could have done more for
its Jewish population, but then so could every country of
occupied Europe. The record shows that the Poles did more than
most'.

A. Slawinski,
London

References:

Those Who Helped,
Published by The Main Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against
the Polish Nation and The Polish Society for the Righteous Among the
Nations, Warsaw, 1997

Emanuel Ringelblum,
Polish-Jewish Relations during the Second World War, Yad Vashem,
Jerusalem, 1974